Monday, September 7, 2009

THEY WANNA MAKE ME GO TO ATC REHAB

But I say NO, NO, NO! Anyone who has ever crafted an ATC knows exactly what I mean. They are super addictive. I’m participating in four swaps this month!

For those of you who haven’t succumbed, they are 2.5 by 3.5 inch Artist Trading Cards meant to be traded among an ever growing community of artists and crafters. Yes, traded--not sold. It’s a sharing thing!

Any arts and crafts media is acceptable—collage, watercolor, rubber stamping, fabric, photography, embroidery, oil paints, etc. Whatever makes your heart sing is okay as long as you adhere to the size rule. I save cereal boxes and cut those for my card base but you can buy precut cardboard ATC bases or even use old playing cards. The front is your artwork and the back provides the space for the title, edition or series number if any (1 of 20, etc.), name of swap, your name and contact information, date created and any other information the swap host requests or you want to include. A few that I’ve received have cute little poems or personal notes on the back.

This is one of my earlier efforts and is titled Hunka, Hunka Merman. It was part of a mermaid swap hosted by another blogger. “He” came from a magazine ad for watches, photocopied onto matte photo paper. The watch is why he has an embroidery floss wrist band. I added little beads to the band as I sewed it on. The background paper and his tail are from a ProvoCraft slab. His hair is made from unraveled twine with a little peat moss glued here and there. The hair was rather unruly so he ended up with a ponytail holder made from a bit of jewelry wire and the Fiskars Itty Bitty Cassette Punch sun shape.


A wonderful resource is Bernie Berlin’s Artist Trading Card Workshop. Her book is full of techniques, trading information, and inspiration. She recently shared her art on FiskarsTV (http://www.fiskarscrafts.com/tv/). It’s Episode 99 and definitely worth viewing.

A big THANK YOU to everyone participating in the Birthday RAK! Your comments warm my heart. I’m thrilled that you have joined the celebration. We are still celebrating so leave a comment for a chance to win the RAK. Become a follower for another chance. Thanks, Amy Winehouse for today’s post title.

Gotta run! My ATC addiction is calling.

11 comments:

  1. Hi! Will view the episode:) Thanks for the RAK!
    Viji#5858

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  2. I love your merman ATC! Amazing job!! And yes, those little ATC's are addictive, aren't they?!

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  3. LOVE THE MERMAN!!! And thanks for posting all the info about ATCs, it amazes me how many people still don't know what these are...but they are SO FUN!!!

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  4. You stick to your ATC addiction...and I will gladly join you in rehab if they MAKE you go !! LOL....ATCs are fun....and you can get so creative, can't you ? Enjoy the little pieces of art !! I do !

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  5. I is soo hard to say NO!! But I do enjoy working on them

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  6. Arrgh! I wrote you this long comment about your fabulous Merman ATC and other ATC-related topics and then...the internet ate it! Darn it. So this is all you get. Maybe next time I'll be more chatty. :)

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  7. Don't you think it was mean to chop the merman's head off?? just kidding. Great Card, I might try to make one!
    Happy Happy Birthday
    From all of us to you,
    We wish you a very special day,
    so we can party too
    HEYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!!!! =)

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  8. Fun ATC. I have only made a very few ATC cards.

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  9. Fun ATCs! people are so creative!

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  10. Nice ACT. I'm just getting into them so i guess I will have another addiction.
    Holly #5486

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  11. I love my ATC's too! I'm working on a way to display them right now.

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